Geography:

Geographic coordinates:
24 00 N, 90 00 E

Land boundaries:
total: 4,246 km
border countries: Burma 193 km, India 4,053 km

Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 18 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: up to the outer limits of the continental margin

Terrain:
mostly flat alluvial plain; hilly in southeast

Natural resources:
natural gas, arable land, timber, coal

Irrigated land:
38,440 sq km (1998 est.)

most of the country is situated on deltas of large rivers flowing from the Himalayas: the Ganges unites with the Jamuna (main channel of the Brahmaputra) and later joins the Meghna to eventually empty into the Bay of Bengal

People:

Population:
144,319,628 (July 2005 est.)

Median age:
total: 21.87 years
male: 21.88 years
female: 21.85 years (2005 est.)

Birth rate:
30.01 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Net migration rate:
-0.69 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
total: 62.6 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 63.65 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 61.48 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)

Total fertility rate:
3.13 children born/woman (2005 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Bangladeshi(s)
adjective: Bangladeshi

Religions:
Muslim 83%, Hindu 16%, other 1% (1998)

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 43.1%
male: 53.9%
female: 31.8% (2003 est.)

Economy:

Economy - overview:
Despite sustained domestic and international efforts to improve economic and demographic prospects, Bangladesh remains a poor, overpopulated, and ill-governed nation. Although half of GDP is generated through the service sector, nearly two-thirds of Bangladeshis are employed in the agriculture sector, with rice as the single-most-important product. Major impediments to growth include frequent cyclones and floods, inefficient state-owned enterprises, inadequate port facilities, a rapidly growing labor force that cannot be absorbed by agriculture, delays in exploiting energy resources (natural gas), insufficient power supplies, and slow implementation of economic reforms. Economic reform is stalled in many instances by political infighting and corruption at all levels of government. Progress also has been blocked by opposition from the bureaucracy, public sector unions, and other vested interest groups. The BNP government, led by Prime Minister Khaleda ZIA, has the parliamentary strength to push through needed reforms, but the party's political will to do so has been lacking in key areas. One encouraging note: growth has been a steady 5% for the past several years.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $275.7 billion (2004 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
4.9% (2004 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $2,000 (2004 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 21.2%
industry: 27.1%
services: 51.7% (2004 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
23.5% of GDP (2004 est.)

Population below poverty line:
45% (2004 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 3.9%
highest 10%: 28.6% (1995-96 est.)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
33.6 (FY95/96)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
6% (2004 est.)

Labor force:
65.49 million
note: extensive export of labor to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Oman, Qatar, and Malaysia; workers' remittances estimated at $1.71 billion in 1998-99 (2004 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 63%, industry 11%, services 26% (FY95/96)

Unemployment rate:
40% (includes underemployment) (2004 est.)

Public debt:
43% of GDP (2004 est.)

Agriculture - products:
rice, jute, tea, wheat, sugarcane, potatoes, tobacco, pulses, oilseeds, spices, fruit; beef, milk, poultry

Industries:
cotton textiles, jute, garments, tea processing, paper newsprint, cement, chemical fertilizer, light engineering, sugar

Industrial production growth rate:
6.5% (2004 est.)

Electricity - production:
16.45 billion kWh (2002)

Electricity - consumption:
15.3 billion kWh (2002)

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2002)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2002)

Oil - production:
3,581 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - consumption:
71,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports:
NA

Oil - imports:
NA

Oil - proved reserves:
28.45 million bbl (1 January 2002)

Natural gas - production:
9.9 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:
9.9 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves:
150.3 billion cu m (1 January 2002)

Current account balance:
$216.6 million (2004 est.)

Exports:
$7.478 billion (2004 est.)

Exports - commodities:
garments, jute and jute goods, leather, frozen fish and seafood (2001)

Exports - partners:
US 23.8%, Germany 13.7%, UK 10%, France 5.8% (2003)

Imports:
$10.03 billion (2004 est.)

Imports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, chemicals, iron and steel, textiles, foodstuffs, petroleum products, cement (2000)

Imports - partners:
India 15.6%, China 13.6%, Singapore 9.5%, Japan 6%, Hong Kong 4.9% (2003)

Reserves of foreign exchange & gold:
$3 billion (2004 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:
$1.575 billion (2000 est.)

Currency:
taka (BDT)

Currency code:
BDT

Fiscal year:
1 July - 30 June